Sydney International Quarterfinals: Williams and Pennetta eye semis

January 13, 2010 by admin
Filed under: Tennis Betting 

Sydney, Australia – In the top half of the draw, world No.1 Serena Williams moved into the quarterfinals with relative ease, beating Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 6-2. Next up for Williams is Vera Dushevina of Russia.

Elsewhere, Italian Flavia Pennetta secured her place in the final eight with a victory over Li Na 6-2, 7-6(4). Next up for Pennetta is Arvane Rezai of France.

Should Williams and Pennetta successfully advance into the semis, they would set a rematch of their 2009 US Open quarterfinal match. Nobody seriously believes Pennetta would have a shot against Williams but everyone agrees their pairing in the semis would be more competitive than all other options available, which translates into a more profitable market on the semis for tennis bettors. Let us face it, it is the most important offshoot of all this; well that and scintillating tennis of course.

First, they have to get there so. Here is a look at their upcoming quarterfinal matchups.

Tennis Betting Line:

Flavia Pennetta -4½ -135 -400 20½ O -115 U -125
Aravane Rezai +4½ -105 +250 20½ O -115 U -125

Match Time: 10:00 P.M. Eastern Time Tuesday January 12, 2010

Tennis Betting Verdict: Flavia Pennetta finished runner-up last week at the ASB Classic when she lost to Yanina Wickmayer in the title match. Pennetta arrived in Sydney 4-1 on the season and she improves to 6-1 in reaching the quarters. Pennetta takes a 2-0 edge into her quarterfinal clash against Arvane Rezai. For all these parts, Pennetta enters as the solid favourite at -400. Bookies like her to advance and so do I, if you must know. Rezai can vex Pennetta however. They have had close encounters before, determined by only a handful of games. At +250 she is not priced out of the match entirely but she is still a tad long to suggest she is a sustainable bet. Tennis bettors looking to back Rezai might find her odds on the spread better. At + 4 ½ -105, she is a better option because of her ability to vex Pennetta and put forward a good account. Taking the totals at Over 20 ½ -115 is another possible option if she does do exactly as I expect her to – give Pennetta a good fight.

Tennis Betting Line:

Serena Williams -5½ -145 -1200 18½ O -115 U -125
Vera Dushevina +5½ +105 +600 18½ O -115 U -125

Match Time: 11:30 P.M. Eastern Time Tuesday January 12, 2010

Tennis Betting Verdict: Serena Williams enters the quarterfinals listed as the -1200 favourite. Quadruple digits are a sure-fire indication of massive confidence by the bookies. It also promises peanuts in terms of a payout if this bet wins – more likely than not it will payout. Nevertheless, tennis bettors can be in no doubt where they should place their money and that has to count for something.

Tennis bettors looking to back Dushevina will find her listed at +600 underdog odds. Her price-point suggests she has about as much chance to beat Williams as I have to win a Pulitzer prize for this piece. In short, slim to none. Of course, if she does – and that is a big IF – then bettors stand to beat the bookies by 600% return on their stake. Tempting numbers indeed.

Coming back down to reality, Williams is obviously the smart play and Dushevina the outrageous bet. That Williams only just edges Dushevina in head-to-heads, 1-0 is neither here nor there. Against any other player, it might have indicated Dushevina has a chance but against Williams, marks like that are simply mute points.

The handicap and totals are set just so to suggest Williams will put forward a commanding performance against Dushevina. I would hold firm with that assertion and recommend Williams to cover the spread at -5 ½ -145 and to finish the match in Under 18 ½ -125.

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